Website cost per month vs paying once: which is cheaper?

Short answer: paying monthly costs less for about the first two years. After that, paying once costs less, as long as you don't want changes, support or reports. I'll show the math with my own prices, because those are the only prices I can speak for.

The two options I offer

Most of my clients pay $99 a month and owe nothing up front. That covers the build, hosting, your domain, the lead tools, small changes within 48 hours and a monthly report.

I also offer a one-time option for people who'd rather own it outright. It's $1,800 up front plus $25 a month for hosting and security. It doesn't include unlimited updates, priority support or the monthly report, and anything you want changed later is quoted per job.

Where the lines cross

The monthly starts at zero and climbs $99 a month. The one-time option starts at $1,800 and climbs $25 a month. They meet at about month 24.

That's $1,800 divided by the $74 difference between the two monthly numbers, a little over 24 months.

So which should you pick?

Pick the monthly if:

• you don't want to put $1,800 down
• you'll want changes, new pages or help over the next few years
• you want somebody to notice when something breaks

Pick the one-time option if:

• you have the cash and you'll keep the site for years
• you rarely change anything
• you're comfortable paying per job when you do

Either way you own the domain, and the site is yours. If you cancel the monthly, you get a full export.

The cost nobody puts on the chart

A chart like this only counts dollars. It doesn't count what it costs when the site goes stale, when a plugin breaks, or when you can't reach the person who built it. That's the real reason I lean toward the monthly for most small businesses. It's cheaper early, and it keeps the site alive.

If you want the bigger picture, I compared all the options in how much a business website costs and answered the "is $1,500 a good price" question in this post. The current prices are always on the pricing page.